Four years ago, the Oval beckoned England and Australia inside its gates with
the Ashes scoreline standing at 1-1 and a whole nation, it seemed,
clamouring for an experienced batsman to be reintroduced to the England side
in place of the shattered Ravi Bopara.

Like predecessor like captain: Andrew Strauss shakes Alastair Cook's hand after sealing the series victory, but despite leading the Ashes 3-0 with one Test to play the England captain has still had to face criticismPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Everyone from WG Grace to Mark Ramprakash appeared to warrant a mention. Anyone but Jonathan Trott apparently, who, it was easy to forget, had been an unselected member of the squad for the fourth Test at Headingley.

But Trott was picked. He was next in line. He had known as much ever since his Warwickshire team-mate Ian Bell had been summoned to replace the injured Kevin Pietersen earlier in the series. Pecking orders, rather than revolving doors, have counted in recent years.

As Trott says: “Since I’ve been involved, the selectors have always made a big thing of continuity. So the selection talk before the game didn’t affect me.”

That it did not. On debut Trott made 41 in the first innings, and then, gloriously, 119 in the second as England regained the Ashes.

Since then, he has totted up 3,645 Test runs at an average of 47.33. Such a fixture has he become at No 3 that it seems a whole lot longer than four years since that stunning arrival on the big stage. To Trott, though, it is as clear as yesterday. He can still vividly recall the moments before his maiden Test century.

“Yeah, there was a moment on 97 when the ball rolled backwards past my legs and went close to the stumps,” he says. “Then I was on 99, the field was in, (Ben) Hilfenhaus was running in, and I thought I am definitely going to get a Test hundred. I had no doubt about it. I remember clipping behind square and running down to the striker’s end, and I remember whacking my bat down so that the umpire knew I’d crossed the line before going back for a second run (the ball went for four anyway). I remember little things like that which you don’t see on TV. They are special, I suppose.”

He can also remember the start of that innings and being on eight facing the first ball of day three bowled by Peter Siddle. The ball exploded off a length.

“There was a big appeal for caught behind,” he says. “I didn’t hit the ball. If you look back you think, crikey, it was an amazing decision [by umpire Asad Rauf] because it looked out. There was a big sound which was the ball hitting my back leg. I knew I hadn’t hit it, but you look back on things like that.”

And think what might have happened had he been given out? “Yes, I might not be sitting here,” he laughs. “It might have been very different. They are the sorts of things you need to go your way to get runs. Very rarely do you score big hundreds without giving a chance, or have something 50-50 that could have gone against you. I look back and think I was pretty lucky.”

Maybe, then, the luck has not been going with Trott recently. He has made just one 50 in this series, and, since Wellington last winter, has gone 14 Test innings without a century.

“A few chopped on, one down leg side, a referral that wasn’t … things like that – that’s cricket,” he says.

And I do not think that is some batsman clinging vainly to nebulousness, as many strugglers often do. Trott is not in a rut. He still averages 38 in those 14 innings. He still averages 53 against Australia in 10 Tests.

The truth is that Australia’s seamers have bowled exceptionally well at him. “They are disciplined,” he says. “They are a good bunch of bowlers.”

And it may even be, bizarre to relate, that Trott is playing too well, hitting the ball too sweetly and playing shots he might not usually attempt in Test cricket. Those that usually trot can find sudden galloping dizzying.

“I hope not,” he counters. “I don’t know about playing shots … I haven’t got out to huge extravagant shots – maybe Trent Bridge first innings – but since then I think I have been timing the ball nicely.”

He clearly knows that there has been talk about his form and that of captain, Alastair Cook.

“There is still a game to go. Alastair and I might get some runs and what will you write about then?” he jousts.

Trott is not prickly, but he is keen to defend Cook’s captaincy against criticism from Shane Warne. And too right, too. It is not just Warne. Others have waded in.

Cook has captained England in 15 Tests. They have won nine of them, and lost only one. They have won a series away in India and won the Ashes.

We have been down this road of perceived conservatism before with Andrew Strauss. The game has changed. Batsmen like to score these days. Stop them doing so, and they might succumb.

A boundary fielder, immediately meaning four runs are reduced to one, might be more influential than another catcher.

Conventional field placings have stood the test of time for a reason, something the supposedly more ‘inventive’ Michael Clarke might want to consider, when pondering Ian Bell’s plethora of runs to third man in this series (143 of his 500).

“I think it is quite amusing that he (Warne) tries to criticise Alastair’s captaincy when we are 3-0 up in the series,” says Trott. “It’s quite baffling, but everyone is entitled to their views. Alastair’s record speaks for itself as a captain.”

And it is not as if Cook is wholly passive, Trott pinpointing his positioning of a short leg for Clarke at Durham, with Clarke bowled the next ball by Stuart Broad.

“I thought that was really inventive,” says Trott.

Comparisons with his predecessor are inevitable, but Trott sees little difference other than maybe Strauss’ “tighter rope” with the team because of his age. One difference I’d identify is the use of reviews. Strauss was much better at ignoring the emotion of the likes of Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. For all the mockery of Australia's clumsy handling of the Decision Review System, England have made only six successful reviews from 23, compared to Australia’s five from 25. But Cook can be tough, apparently.

“Deep down he can be quite hard but in a fair way and in a controlled manner,” says Trott. “When he says something he cuts to the chase, he won’t paint a pretty picture for you.”

Both Cook and team director Andy Flower will be tough on complacency as England approach the fifth Investec Test 3-0 up.

“We are not going to focus on being 3-0 up,” says Trott. “It’s one Test, let’s win it and the result of that will be us winning 4-0. I don’t think anyone wants to go up on the stage and raise the urn after we have lost a Test match. If we do that, it will be a bit of a downer.”

As would a series without a century be for Trott. So don’t bet against a repeat of 2009.

Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, is the title sponsor of the Ashes. investec.co.uk/cricket. Follow @InvestecCricket.